Crabbie’s will no longer sponsor the Grand National after the upcoming festival after three years.
The news comes shortly after Crabbies owner, Halewood International, posted huge losses and chief Peter Eaton has announced that the company would undergo changes.
“We gave an awful lot of thought and we were more than prepared to continue the sponsorship had Aintree not found a suitable sponsor. We had three amazing years with the Crabbie’s Grand National,” he told the Liverpool Echo.
“It’s made a huge difference to our brand and given it a global reach. Because Aintree had found this wonderful new sponsor we found it would probably be a good opportunity take a step back and concentrate on other areas of marketing within sport.”
Crabbie’s, Title Partner for the 2016 Grand National Festival being held April 7 to 9 and the previous two runnings, will retain its association with the Jump Racing spectacular, moving from 2017 to become sponsors of the Grade 1 Top Novices’ Hurdle on theFriday’s Ladies Day.
Instead a healthcare company, Randox Health, will become the new official partner.
Randox Health is a world leader in healthcare diagnostics; today more than 5% of the world’s population – in excess of 370 million people across 145 countries – receives medical diagnosis using Randox products each year.
With around 9 million people tuning in each year in the UK, the £1-million Grand National currently attracts one of the largest live TV audiences in sport and Channel 4’s largest audience of the year. From 2017, the first year with new partner Randox Health, the race will be broadcast on ITV. Worldwide the event attracts an estimated television audience of around 600 million, with more than 150,000 people enjoying the action live from Aintree Racecourse in Merseyside over the course of the three-day racing festival.
Randox Health also becomes the Official Healthcare Partner of The Jockey Club. Founded in 1750 and today British Racing’s largest commercial group, The Jockey Club runs many of the sport’s most iconic assets which, as well as the Grand National Festival, include the Cheltenham Festival, the Investec Derby Festival and the National Stud, with all profits going back into the sport thanks to being a company incorporated by Royal Charter.
Dr. Peter FitzGerald CBE, Founder and Managing Director of Randox, said: “The Randox Health team is extremely pleased to partner the world’s greatest race. The Grand National offers us a major public platform to raise awareness of preventative healthcare and to encourage people to take control of their health and wellbeing.
“We see this partnership as a natural fit, as both organisations invest heavily in the future and we aim to use our partnership to promote a positive lifestyle and to bring enjoyment to millions of people. We care about people’s health and this is the people’s race.
“Crabbie’s sponsorship of the Grand National will be a hard act to follow, but we look forward to rising to the challenge and sharing our vision for Randox Health further once the 2016 Crabbie’s Grand National has drawn to a close and our rights for the world’s greatest race come into effect.“
John Baker, North West Regional Director for Jockey Club Racecourses, who runs Aintree, said: “I am delighted to welcome Randox Health as our new partner from after the 2016 Crabbie’s Grand National Festival. This is an incredibly exciting time to join forces with Randox because they are highly ambitious as a company and share our aspiration to promote the Grand National to the maximum number of people in the years ahead.
“We are already working closely with Randox Health and are excited both about their plans for the future and how they see the role of our partnership within that. Their vision, people and operation are very impressive, they love their racing and I am confident they will prove fantastic partners for our crown jewel.
“I should also like to thank Crabbie’s brand owner, Halewood International, and in particular Judy Halewood and Peter Eaton, for their very generous and beneficial support of the Crabbie’s Grand National these past three years. I am very pleased they will remain involved and associated with Aintree through sponsorship of the high valueGrade 1 Top Novices’ Hurdle and of course before that the important 169th running of the world’s greatest steeplechase in April under their banner.”
